As you can imagine, as Chicago-based food reviewers we often get asked “What’s the best deep dish pizza in Chicago?” Honestly, neither of us really love deep dish and quite frankly some of the other pizza Chicago pizzeria’s have to offer are higher on our list. Whether it’s frozen pizza, deep dish pizza, tavern-style pizza, NY-style, Detroit style, New Haven style, local pizza, chain pizza, delivery pizza, sausage pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, BBQ pizza, bacon wrapped pizza, Mexican pizza, Jack O’ Lantern pizza or even White Claw pizza — we’ve had ‘em all on this channel. Using our pizza knowledge on a knead-to-know basis — we threw down a list of our favorite Chicago pizzerias that you should put right there on the bucketlist with having an iconic Chicago deep dish pizza.
Thanks for reading! You’ll always have a pizza our hearts. Because no matter how you slice it, you’re awesome. OK will sauce now. Stop now! We know pizza puns are cheesy. 😉 Enjoy!
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Vito & Nick’s Thin Crust Pizza
FLAVOR PROFILE: THIN CRUST • COOKED WELL DONE • GET THE SAUSAGE • HERBS
This turned out to be one of our favorite episodes of all-time, not only because of the delicious pizza but also because of Rose George, Owner & Operator of Vito & Nick’s. It was truly a magical experience. As Chicagoans and Pizza lovers — this was a dream come true. Not only did Rose share a bunch of incredible history with us, we got to see the whole behind the scenes on how the pizza is made. Back to the pizza — the well done cook makes the crispness absolutely perfect. The sausage topping is out of this world. It just tastes classic. Corey even put this up in the rafters as one of the best thin crust pizza he has ever eaten.
Whatever you do in your life, make some time to have some thin crust from Vito & Nick’s. It’s a Chicago institution. Special shout out to friend of the show Anthony Spina! We love you, man.
FYI — cash only! 💵
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Spacca Napoli’s Daivola Neapolitan-Style Pizza
FLAVOR PROFILE: FRESH TASTING • LITE & AIRY • SAVORY MEAT WITH A KICK
It's a delicious pie with blended San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte, Calabrese soppressata and crispy basil. This is a must get. The sauce just tastes unbelievably fresh. The beautiful meats have a nice little kick to it. The crust is just a “fluffball of greatness” according to Sean. It’s definitely for people who prefer charred crust. It’s a great option if you’re looking for something other than deep dish or tavern-style.
There is a reason why this one of the most reviewed places on Yelp in the city — it’s one of the best pizzas we’ve reviewed in Chicago. We were battling for the last slice.
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Coalfire Pizza’s Pepperoni & Ricotta
FLAVOR PROFILE: FRESH BASIL STRIPS • SALTY CRISPY PEPPERONI • CREAMY RICOTTA
Coalfire serves a thin crust, coal-forged pizza that emerges slightly. charred and bubbly from our 1,500 degree oven fueled by clean burning coal. Coalfire is also Chicago’s original coal over pizzeria. We just love those ricotta cheese dollops. “It’s like putting butter cheese on your pizza.” - Corey Wagner. Those pepperoni bowl cups pool up that grease which is a huge plus here on this channel. It’s very flavorful and very, very tasty.
Plus we had Sean’s mother for this episode? What a treat!
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Piece’s Brewery & Pizzeria’s Hot Doug’s Atomic Sausage Pizza
FLAVOR PROFILE: SAUCEY & PEPPER JACK CHEESE MIX • CARAMELIZED ONIONS • NEW HAVEN STYLE
Piece Brewery and Pizzeria has had famous meats mogul Hot Doug’s Atomic Sausage on one of their pillar pieces for years — and there is a reason why. It’s packed with flavor! In every single bite. It is drippy and covered in oils, which sits perfectly on top of that pepper jack cheese. The sturdy crust has a great thickness. And of course - the sausage has a nice hot kick to it.
“It’s one of the most flavorful pizzas I’ve had.” - Corey Wagner. There ya have it folks. It’s to die for. How often can you get a legendary hot dog stand’s proprietary sausage on a pizza? There is no other place to get it!
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Chicago Pizza and Over Grinder Co.’s The Half-Pounder (Pizza Pot Pie w/ Meat Sauce, White Crust)
FLAVOR PROFILE: SPOONFULS OF MEAT SAUCE • FLUFFY CRUST • CHEESE PULLS FOR DAYS
Is it pizza soup? Is it pizza pot pie? Is it even pizza? Is it technically deep dish? Who really cares. It’s fun as hell and tastes freaking delicious. It’s in its own class. As ridiculous as it is and looks — it’s out of this world fresh. That meat sauce is so worth having an entire crust bowl full of. People wait hours for this stuff and it worth the spot you’ve earned. That fluffy dough is worth every minute of waiting. As Sean noted it’s like combing “breadsticks, spaghetti, pizza and pot pie into one meal.” It’s not anywhere close to a traditional pizza, so prepare yourself for a wild ride.
We got some of the most ridiculous cheese pulls off all-time out of this video. I like that.
BONUS: FINE, F***ING DEEP DISH IN AN AIRPLANE
Fine — if you must really know what deep dish pizzas to get in Chicago…here is a video of us eating three of Chicago’s best known deep dish pizzas 4,000FT in the air, flying around the skyline of Chicago in a propeller airplane. In this video we compare Giordano's deep dish, Gino's East deep dish and Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza. Which one is the best?
